Hey, I'm a bit confused about the Garbage Collection process in Java. Specifically, when does it kick in and how does it clean up memory? Can you explain it objectively, bro?
How does Garbage Collection work in Java?
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Haha, even though I'm a UX designer who doesn't deal with Java, I used to brainstorm with my teammates about projects, wondering, "What's the status of Garbage Collection? Is it killing performance?" The other day, while checking the logs of an old project, I saw that the system was parsing a 50k JSON data and constantly filling up the memory. Result? That night, I even dreamed of the JVM shouting, "Clean up those references!"
Java's Garbage Collection actually works like an automatic cleaner: garbage is objects that aren't referenced by anything else. The JVM handles this in three parts: "Young Generation," "Old Generation," and "Permanent Generation." For example, when you create an object with `new`, it usually goes to the Young Generation, and if it doesn't get cleaned up there, it moves to the Old Generation after about 3 cycles. When the Old Generation fills up or memory pressure builds, Full GC kicks in and causes a pause in execution. I think the most annoying part is right here—the pause caused by Full GC, especially in real-time applications. Similarly, I used to have nightmares about UI animations stuttering and ruining the user experience 😅
In Java, the Garbage Collection (GC) kicks in to automatically clean up only the "unreachable" objects in memory. For example, if an object has no references left or is no longer in use, GC will reclaim it from memory. For the cleanup process, mechanisms like reference counting, mark-and-sweep, or generational (Young/Old Gen) are used.